Poem for Marissa

This is a poem I wrote tonight for Marissa while looking at a copy of painting #30 (which is my current reigning favorite) from her upcoming exhibit.  A copy of the painting is included as a reward for those of you who manage to read through to the end of the poem.

Poem for Marissa

What could possibly 

Be the portent 

Of such a present tense

And exquisite 

Delicacy of touch

Showing the least fillip of life

Whether laid out in the shade

Or broad daylight

As if outwitting 

Photoshop itself 

As to both accuracy 

And verisimilitude 

Yet also framed abstractly 

In perfect equipoise 

As to both color and light

As if somehow 

Carrying daylight’s cross 

Each of the 36 steps along the way

Descending to the next rung 

Of the ladder from here to Eternity 

And back again or else in the present case 

Making an ecstatic leap off the page 

Into the very midst of my arms

To sit with me here in the living room

Tonight right now -- or wherever you happen to be 

Dancing with the Bolshoi or singing at the Met

Not just come hither but summoning me now!